


Every Little Bit of It

by slash4femme



Category: Naruto
Genre: Canon Disabled Character, Chronic Pain, Fluff, Kakashi loves his dog children, M/M, Post-Canon, Romance, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-22 15:38:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11383182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slash4femme/pseuds/slash4femme
Summary: Kakashi knows before the day even starts that it is going to be a bad pain day. Not for him but for Gai.





	Every Little Bit of It

Kakashi knows before the day even starts that it is going to be a bad pain day.

Not for him but for Gai.

At five o'clock Gai wakes up as always. Kakashi wakes as well although he doesn't open his eyes. In a few seconds Gai will transfer to his wheelchair, get dressed and leave for his early morning training session and Kakashi will be able to drift back to sleep for at least another hour before he also needs to get up.

Today though Gai doesn't get up, Kakashi listens to him shift around on the bed then go still again, body mirroring Kakashi's although they are not quite close enough to spoon. Gai's breathing is slow and regular but he's clearly awake.

Awake but not moving. That's not a good sign.

Kakashi reaches out, puts one hand very carefully on Gai's hip right where the hem of his tshirt doesn't quite meet the top of his pajama pants.

"Do you need your medication?"

"I already took them." Gai's voice is soft, a little scratchy from sleep, his big hand comes down to cover Kakashi's where it still resting on his hip.

Most days Gai is good, but then there are days like today.

The damage to Gai's chakra network is complex and like nothing anyone has ever seen before. What it means in theory is something Konoha's medical nin still argue about. In practice it means Gai will have days where he'll suffer from pain and fatigue similar to the aftermath of opening the seventh gate.

There is no cure or treatment that anyone can work out, no pattern to when it happens or warning. Just sometimes it does.

They stay in bed together, both quiet in the dark although neither one of them are sleeping.

For once Kakashi gets up first.

He shoos the dogs sleeping in the hall out of the way, rounds up the entire pack and puts them out in the yard. Then goes into the kitchen and plugs in the kettle for tea. While the water heats he feeds the dogs breakfast and then rummages around the kitchen until he comes up with plums, a melon and some fresh berries.

Gai tends to be prone to nausea when he's in this much pain so most of his favorite breakfast foods are out, but fruit is safe enough.

Kakashi slices the melon and plums into bite sized pieces, washes the buried and put them in a bowl on the table. He adds a small bowl of unsweetened yogurt, for protein, to Gai's place at the table and brews tea for them both.

Gai comes into the kitchen, every movement just a little too slow and uncoordinated, expression drawn, making the lines of strain around his mouth far more evident than they usually are.

Kakashi doesn't comment, he just sets a cup of tea in front of Gai.

"I should be home for lunch today." He says settling himself at the table. "But I'll probably be late this evening." He'll do everything possible to make sure nothing runs too late though.

Gai just nods, slowly eating a piece of melon. He takes a spoonful of yogurt, eats it and grimaces, manfully fighting not to gag. Kakashi snags the bowl of yogurt when Gai pushes it away and finishes the rest himself.

There's a step outside that Kakashi recognizes as Inuzuka Ashi and all the dogs start barking in greeting from the back. Kakashi washes his own breakfast dishes and then goes out to greet him too.

Ashi is an earnest genin, quiet to the point of being shy, a rare treat in a member of the Inuzuka clan. He'd been so daunted at being chosen to help care for the Hokage's dogs that he hadn't been able to look Kakashi in the eye for the first week they'd known each other.  

Lucky he'd warmed up to Kakashi and now he doesn't so much as blink when Kakashi waves to him. But than Kakashi is dressed in pajama pants, tshirt and sandals with his hair falling into his face and one of the soft cotton masks he prefers to wear around the house. It's pale green and has little cherry blossoms on it. So the whole sense of awe engendered by Kakashi's title as probably worn off my now.

"Anything I should know?" Ashi asks greeting the dogs who run to him as he lets himself through the gate into the backyard.

"Gai's resting today so if you can keep them quiet and out of the house that would be great." Kakashi squats down so he can greet, Hachiro, the most recent addition to the pack.

Ashi doesn't know the full extent of Gai's medical issues, not many people do, but he does know that sometimes Gai has days where he needs to rest and not have a whole herd dogs to watch out for. It is also unlikely that Gai will actually do much resting but Kakashi likes to pretend for his own peace of mind.

"Right, a long hike in the woods should do the trick." Ashi bends to scratch Jiro behind the ears.

"Have fun." Kakashi wishes he was going for a long hike in the woods with his dogs, or staying home with Gai. He'd rather do a lot of things than sit in meetings for hours and live with the certain knowledge that one of these days he'll be responsible for the death of some bright faced, young shinobi.

But he's still Hokage and he still has duties so he goes back into the house once he's made sure Ashi as everything he needs and starts getting ready for the day.

He comes out of the bathroom, freshly washed and in uniform, his summer one since it promises to be hot today, and finds Gai sitting on an exercise mat on the living room floor doing stretches.

His teeth are clenched and he's sweating a lot more than he should be given it's a very gentle routine. Kakashi watches him for a moment and then squats down beside the mat.

"Take it easy will you?" He says. "I don't want you to end up back at the hospital. Sakura always complains at me when that happens."

Gai manages to grin at him, so he must be feeling a little bit better, either that or the pain meds have kicked in.

"Don't worry Rival, I'm only planning on doing some light stretches and micro movement exercises. Nothing too taxing."

"Good." Kakashi lets his hand rest lightly on Gai's back for a moment. "I would hate to see you fall behind your training because you were flat on your back in a hospital bed again."

Gai grunts. "I swear Kakashi I won't overdo it today."

"Okay." Kakashi stands back up and heads for the door.

 

***

Despite his best efforts his morning meeting runs over and several of his afternoon appointments have to be rescheduled.

Takumi purses his lips as he tries to find a way to shuffle around Kakashi's afternoon meetings for him. "I know you said you need an hour for lunch Lord Hokage. But is it truly necessary? Most days you are fine eating lunch in your office and having an extra hour would make things a lot easier."

"I promised Gai I would be home for lunch." Kakashi says reasonably enough. "I will need enough time to get there and cook something, eat it, clean up, come back and I don't want to rush too much."

It's also not like Konoha will crumble if Kakashi puts off hearing the latest proposal from the Hyuga clan to expand their clan compound by an hour.

Takumi doesn't look convinced.

"Is there really no way --" He starts in a tone that makes it clear he feels Kakashi is being unreasonable.

"No." Kakashi cuts him off firmly.

Out of the corner of his eye he sees Yamato making hand signs at Takumi that either main _drop it_ , or maybe _roll over and play dead_. They're not regulation shinobi signs so it's hard to tell.

Takumi is a genius when it comes to organizing schedules and knowing how to say "stop talking and leave now" in the politest way possible. Which is why he's on the Hokage's staff to start with but he's also very young and hasn't been working with Kakashi for that long.

"I am taking an hour to go home and cook lunch for my husband today." Kakashi says in his best 'I am the Hokage and will be obeyed' voice. "The Hyuga clan can wait until I get back."

Takumi still doesn't look happy, but he let's it go and pencils the Hyuga in for later that afternoon.

Kakashi thinks about what he's going to cook as he walks from the Hokage's office back home.

The sun is high overhead and the day had gotten hot enough that Kakashi can feel sweat gathering at the nape of his neck.

Cold soba noodles would be good today. Cool and plain enough to not upset Gai's stomach too much. They have some fresh tofu in the refrigerator that will go well with the shiso and onion too.

He makes a quick detour to pick up some noodles and grabs some green shiso leaves too since he's not sure if the ones they have at home are still good.

All the windows in their house have been opened, allowing for a cross breeze, Kakashi sees when he gets there. Ashi isn't back with the dogs yet but he can hear Lee's voice coming from the kitchen as soon as he comes through the front door.

"I would like to work on your speed Sensei." Lee is saying as Kakashi takes off his sandals. "I have been thinking hard about what style would best suit your current situation and I have some suggestions for you to consider."

Kakashi is willing to admit that he'd underestimated Lee for a long time. Lee was a cute kid and Kakashi had respected his taijutsu and his sheer unwillingness to ever give up no matter the odds. But for years when he thought of Lee it was along with Tenten and Neji lumped into a 'Gai's kids' mental category, maybe 'Naruto's friends' or  'young ninja with too much energy'. Which was to say he hadn't spent a lot of time thinking about Lee as an individual. At least not until after the war.

Now if Gai were to suggest officially adopting Lee Kakashi would probably draw up the papers himself with tears in his eyes.

Lee is unfailingly supportive and optimistic when it comes to Gai's recovery. While still being practical enough to realize there are some things Gai will never be able to do again. He's spent hours working with Gai and Sakura to come up with training routines, physical therapy programs and eating schedules for Gai. Every day that Lee is physically in Konoha he spends at least some of it with Gai, training with him, helping him with his classes in the dojo or just spending time talking.

It would have probably felt condescending or like being coddled f Lee hadn't been so honestly open about the fact that he genuinely wanted and enjoyed spending time with Gai. Doing just about anything for Gai wasn't a duty but a pleasure as far as Lee was concerned and Kakashi could have hugged him for it. Especially early on when in his recovery Gai had needed help with just about everything and intensely resented it.

"It's good for Lee too." Sakura had told him once. "He's needed to really _do_ something after Neji died. I think helping Gai is what's kept him from falling apart."       

Kakashi could understand that.

"Hi Lee." He says as he comes into the kitchen.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Lee's eyes go wide as they have a tendency to do when he's feeling a strong emotion, which for Lee is almost always. It makes him look perpetually startled.

Kakashi hasn't been anyone's sensei for a while now but he lets it slide because it's better than the full three weeks Lee had insisted on calling him Lord Hokage. Even in Kakashi's own house when he'd been sprawled on the couch amongst a pile of dogs wearing his oldest sweatpants and one of Gai's tshirts with a cartoon turtle on it.

Kakashi can live with Kakashi-sensei.

"Kakashi!" Gai is still looking far too tired, the way he used to look when he pushed himself too hard on a mission. He smiles brightly at Kakashi though, all teeth and determination.

He has a notebook open in front of him where he and Lee are brainstorming workout programs.

"I thought we could have cold soba for lunch, since it's gotten hot out." He says unpacking the grocery bags and putting a pot of water on to boil. "They'll be enough for you too Lee."

"Oh no, Kakashi-sensei. I would hate to intrude on you and Gai-sensei's lunch."

Kakashi waves that off with a flick of his wrist. "It's fine." He says at the same time as Gai says.

"You are always welcome to share as many meals as you want with us Lee! You know that!"

Lee gives Gai one of his 'you are the best sensei in the world' looks, eyes going a little bit teary.

Kakashi does a quick calculation in his head. There should be plenty of soba for Lee and some left over if Gai wants to eat it for dinner too since Kakashi will be home late. It's a good thing he'd bought extra.

He mixes up dipping sauce for the soba and chops the shiso leaves and green onion. He takes out the fresh tofu cuts it into three servings, dresses two of the servings with green onion, shiso leaves, katsuobushi flakes and soy sauce. He leaves the last serving of tofu plain except for a drizzle of soy sauce.   
"I'll need to set the table." He tells Gai and Lee as he rinses the noodles.

"Please Kakashi-sensei allow me to assist you by setting the table!" Lee hops up at once.

"Sure." Kakashi agrees easily and Lee takes out bowls for the dipping sauce and chopsticks and starts moving the condiments and tofu from the counter to the table.

"Kakashi I have been discussing with Lee the possibility of adding a new class to my teaching schedule at the dojo." Gai says when they're all settled with food in front of them. "I want to design a class specifically for those who might be getting on in years but are still youthful in spirit."

Lee gives Gai a thumbs up from across the table. Kakashi raises his eyebrows.

"Maybe I'll do two classes. One for retired shinobi who wish to keep their taijutsu skills fresh and one for civilians who might be interested in embracing the Way of Eternal Youth!"

"If you have time with the other classes you're teaching." Kakashi says. "All the eligible young women of Konoha aren't going to teach themselves taijutsu after all."

Gai blushes, because he always blushes when Kakashi teases him. It makes Kakashi go warm under his mask, makes him wish they aren't sitting on opposite sides of the table so he can lean close against Gai's side.

Lee's here too, which means Kakashi isn't going to slide around the table and steal a kiss either, although it's tempting.  

Lee and Gai chat about ideas for Gai's new classes. Kakashi mentally dubs this entire scheme 'project turn Konoha's grandmas into youthful taijutsu masters.' He's not sure, as Hokage, if he should be encouraging this plan, trying to somehow stop it from happening or pretending he doesn't know anything about it.

After some contemplation, accompanied by noodle eating, he decides to go with option c, the path of least resistance.  

Gai eats a little more than he had at breakfast and even finishes off his tofu. It's another sign that he's feeling better and Kakashi is glad to see it.

He washes the dishes after they eat, assisted of course by Lee.

"It's no trouble sensei, in fact I insist on lending you a hand with those dishes. And thank you for the delicious and refreshing meal on such a hot day."

Gai is technically on dish drying duty although Lee becomes overenthusiastic ends up drying all the dishes himself. Gai just smiles with ever-patient affection as Lee darts around their kitchen washing and drying and putting things away.

Kakashi leans against the counter, arms folded and pretends like he's helping in some way when he's really just watching Lee do the cleaning up.

There aren't that many dishes anyway.

He sidles a little bit closer to Gai and reaches out to brush his fingers along the back of Gai's neck while Lee has his back turned putting away the bowls. Gai shivers at the touch, turns his head to look up at Kakashi with wide dark eyes, lips a little parted.

Kakashi shivers a little bit himself and crosses his arms back over his chest as Lee turns back around.

"I should get going." Kakashi says putting his hands in his pockets.

"Indeed the Hokage should set a good example and be punctual to all his meetings." Gai wags a finger at Kakashi, another sign he's feeling better.

Kakashi wants to kiss him.

He wants to say fuck the entire Hyuga clan collectively and play hookie for the afternoon with Gai.

They could find a shady spot in the yard under the trees. Maybe he could even convince Gai to read allowed to him. They both enjoy that although Gai does always add in his own commentary.

But in thirty years as an active duty shinobi Kakashi has never turned his back on his duty yet and Gai would never stand for it anyway.

Besides he can sense the chakra of his ANBU escort waiting patiently for him on the street outside. So he waves to Gai and Lee and heads back to his office and the meeting with the representatives from the Hyuga clan.

***

It's, as he had feared, late by the time he gets home that evening. All his efforts to finish up early hadn't worked out as meetings had run over and the team he'd been waiting for don't check in until it is already firmly night out. All three of the shinobi had look exhausted, travel stained and in at least one case in dire need of sleeping off chakra depletion. They are all alive, in one piece and the news they bring is good, so that is something. Kakashi sends them all home and gives them a few days leave to rest and recover. Schedules a meeting with Ibiki and Ino in the morning to talk over intelligence options and takes himself home as well.

He's hoping the house will be dark, Gai having gone to bed early in order to get a little extra rest.

Of course it's not though.

Kakashi lets himself in, greeted at the door by Ichiro. He takes off his shoes and flak jacket, then kneels to pet the dog and scratch him behind his ears.   

All the windows are still open, the night has made it cooler out, the wind whispers through the branches of the trees out behind the house, makes the wind chimes Naruto had bought for them jingle softly out on the porch.

The porch is where Gai has set up his exercise mat. Stripped down to the waist, wearing only lightweight cotton trousers.

Most of the dogs are there too enjoying the cool night air.

Kakashi can hear the high singing of cicadas in the woods, the gentle breathing of the dogs, the soft grunts Gai makes as he carefully stretches out the muscles in his thighs and calf.

Kakashi leans in the doorway and watches the way Gai's forehead creases, his eyebrows drawing together with concentration and strain, the tense and flow of the muscles in his back shoulders and arms. The subtle movement of his hips, the arch of his spine as he eases himself forward into the stretch. His skin glistens where he's sweating a little bit from the combination of summer heat and exertion.

Still and always beautiful and strong.

Kakashi pushes himself away from the doorframe and steps onto the porch, crouches down to let Shiro sniff his hand. Shiro delicately licks Kakashi's fingertips and Kakashi reaches out to pet the little dog's side. For once Shiro doesn't flinch away from the touch, his body remaining relaxed and pliant. He tips his heavily scarred and damaged face back, good eye falling shut as Kakashi strokes him with slow, careful touches.

When Kakashi looks up Gai is sitting up, no longer stretching, just sitting watching Kakashi.

He smiles warm and private and Kakashi smiles back scooting across the little remaining space so he can kiss Gai for the first time that day.

Their lips press together hot and sweet. Kakashi doesn't bother with pulling down his mask and Gai doesn't seem to mind. One strong arm wraps around Kakashi's shoulders while Gai's other hand cups his face.

Kakashi can feel Gai's breath, the warmth of his lips against Kakashi own.

It's good, touching Gai always is.

"How are you feeling?" Kakashi asks when they pull apart.

"Tired, my rival, but the pain is back to a manageable level. Taking a nap and a bath this afternoon helped. I should be able to resume training tomorrow." Gai's hand slides across Kakashi's jaw and threads into his hair, keeping their faces close together.

Not that Kakashi was trying to get away.

"Good." Kakashi runs his thumb down the muscles in Gai's neck, the line of his collarbone, across one scarred pectoral.

"Kakashi." Gai says, voice deep enough for Kakashi to feel in his fingertips.

Kakashi kisses him again just to feel the way Gai laughs against his lips, the sound going all the way through him like the most potent jutsu ever created.

Kakashi gasps a little, can't help himself and Gai's hand on the back of his head tightens, the kiss deepens.

Behind them the wind chimes jingle. One of the dogs snorts in its sleep and rolls over. Another dog whines a little before relaxing again.

Gai pulls away from Kakashi slowly, moves his legs into a new position. He doesn't wince or flinch but Kakashi is close enough to see him involuntarily tense in discomfort at the motion.   

"We should go to bed." Kakashi stands, stretches some of the tension from his own shoulders and back. "It's been a long day and I, at least, am tired."

"Hmm, bed does sound good, rival." Gai pulls himself back into his wheelchair while Kakashi rolls up the excise mat and tucks it under his arm.

He follows Gai back into the house and into their bedroom.

"I like your new idea." He says as he shucks off his uniform and pulls on a pair of lightweight shorts, a tshirt and cotton mask. "The one for training Konoha's grandmas in taijutsu."

He flops down onto the futon next to Gai.

"It could be good for the village. Extend life, mobility, general health of our citizens. And if we ever go to war again it'll be a secret advantage I can guarantee our enemies will never see it coming."

Even though he can't see Gai Kakashi knows he's smiling.

Kakashi's hand drifts down to gently squeeze Gai's hip and then leaves his hand resting there.

"I told Naruto that if he can get himself out of bed early enough I'd train with him tomorrow morning. Lee and you could join us if you want. It could be fun for us all to train together for once."

"Yes Kakashi! To train with you and young Naruto tomorrow morning would be an exciting and youthful experience! And I'm sure Lee will be only too happy to train against such a challenging opponent."

"You're a challenging opponent." Kakashi squeezes Gai's hip again.

He's not even lying, Gai changes all of them. For instance, the idea that someday soon Kakashi will have to go back to sparring against Gai at something approaching full strength is challenging enough to make sweat break out on Kakashi's back just thinking about it.

He'd do it, because Gai deserves that from him and because it will make Gai happy.

But Kakashi can still feel the sick, hopeless panic that had gripped him as he'd watched Gai open the eighth gate like a phantom pain and the idea of so much as throwing a shuriken at him makes Kakashi want to curl up into a small ball of misery.

That's a worry for another day though, they aren't there yet. Kakashi isn't going to buy trouble, it's not his style.

"Flattering dearest rival of my youth, but Lee must pit himself against the strongest young shinobi in the village if he is to reach his full potential and that is clearly Naruto." Gai hesitates for a moment. "Or perhaps young Sakura. There is no doubt for sheer power Naruto is one of the greats shinobi to ever exist but Sakura has ... er, qualities, Naruto lacks. Still Naruto will make a challenging opponent for Lee tomorrow morning. Their youthful enthusiasm for the art of the shinobi is always a joy to witness."

"Hmm." Kakashi says, eyes already closed.

Gai shifts on the bed beside him. "Goodnight rival."

Kakashi hums softly and shifts a little closer to Gai on the bed.

**Author's Note:**

> headcanons for this fic:  
> Kakashi's non-ninja dogs are all strays and rescues he's taken in. He has a least five.  
> Gai had his leg amputated instread of perminantly wearing it in a cast and uses a sports wheelchair for better speed and maneuverability.  
> Sakura and Lee are sparring buddies and regularly train together.


End file.
